We are now stocking this excellent all in one solution for your holiday entertainment.  This stylish unit flips down to maximise space and also keeps it out of the sight of prying eyes.  Comes with a large amount of features including a 15.6 inch LCD screen, built in DVD CD player, Freeview and USB connection to plug in your MP3 player or iPOD dock. Click here for more info click here Sovos SVKTV15

A new environmentally friendly caravan has been unveiled at the International Caravan an Motorhome in Birmingham this week.

The Ecostream is said to be the most eco-friendly and sustainable caravan on the market.  It was designed and constructed by ex-Top Gear presenter Steve Berry and expert Tighe Grainger after being challenged by the Caravan Club to construct a caravan of these characteristics.

Steve Berry said: “This has been a unique, absorbing and, at times, tiring, challenge.  I’ve learnt a lot about alternative technologies and met some great people who manage to combine a strong interest in design and engineering with a passionate concern for the environment.  If I’ve learnt one thing, it’s that you can be a petrol-head and a tree-hugger!”

And Bob Wheeler, Chief Executive Officer of the Airstream Inc, added: “Airstream is proud to have contributed to this visionary project inspired by The Caravan Club.  Although our commitment to sustainable design is unparalleled in our industry, this kind of experiment can show us all a way toward caravans that tread more lightly on the planet.”
 
Many eco-friendly features have been included and all materials are recycled

The Northern Motorhome show kicks off on the 19th of September till the 21st.  Don’t forget that there has been a change of venue this year as pointed out in a previous blog.  This year it will be held at the Pickering Showground rather than York Racecourse.  For more information visit their website

In 2012, traditional analogue television will be a thing of the past in the UK.  Therefore if you still want to enjoy the TV when travelling you will need to switch to digital. To do this you will have to buy a Freeview box and a satellite.
That will mean investing in a Freeview box or fitting a satellite dish.

Freeview:

Freeview receivers work well at home, depending on the area you live in, but for most areas you simply plug in and get crystal clear reception of your standard channels but also BBC3, BBC4 and Film Four for free.
However in caravans and motorhomes this can be a little bit more problematic normally down to the aerial such as Status Aerials.

Omni-Directional style aerials are often not up to the job, hence the reason we don’t use them for domestic use. The problem is height and a 25 ft mast is often not practical.  So what’s the solution?
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Satellite:

Freeview is fine for UK touring, but not so great when abroad because you can only pick up local stations. In theory you should be able to get a perfect picture just about anywhere that your dish can gain a clear view of a satellite.

There are lots of dishes to choose from, with the dome-style designs being the top of the range.

Once the dish is fitted you need to make sure it’s pointing in the right direction.  To get a picture, you’ll need to buy a satfinder. This is a device which you connect between the dish and the receiver with an indicator to show when the appropriate satellite has been found.
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Dishes that find the satellites by themselves are even easier.

Before you decide what dish to buy, you need to check out the coverage – or footprint – offered by different satellites.  For example the Camos Satellite Dome will pick up all popular UK TV & radio programmes over all of the British Isles, France, Holland & Belgium and well into Germany, Switzerland, Austria, north-west Italy and north-east Spain down as far as Barcelona. In the rest of Europe it has a similar performance to any other satellite dish with a diameter of less than 1.2M

We’re please to announce that we have now expanded our caravan mover section to include Reich’s fantastic Move Control range of caravan movers.

MOVE CONTROL allows you to move your caravan smoothly and effortlessly. The Reich Move Control is designed and constructed to be robust and hardwearing but lightweight at the same time. The caravan mover is powered by double 12 volt motors that power rollers to move the caravan wheels at the touch of a button via remote control.

Some people think of caravans as something temporary but in reality it’s your home from home and contains many of the mod cons you have in your house.  Therefore your caravan should be as safe as houses.

Here is a list of just some of the measures you can take to protect your caravan

Remove the spare wheel

Remove your CRiS documents

Remove expensive, lightweight items such as TVs and DVDs

Lock all windows, doors and close the rooflights

Make sure you have a wheelclamp fitted and/or wheel locks. 

Check the hitchlock is down

Extra Options

Get a caravan alarm

Get a GPS caravan tracking system

What to do if your caravan is stolen

Notify the police and have your CRiS number to hand and chassis numbers. 
Inform CRiS that your van has been stolen by calling 01722 411430 (this can only be done by phone)
Let other caravanners know that there are thieves operating in the area by word of mouth and caravan forums.
Keep a look out on EBAY and local classifieds.  Inform local caravan dealers

30 caravanners had to be rescued from the sea front caravan park in West Sussex.  Large waves breeched the sea defences at the West Sands Caravan Park in Selsey and RNLI and fire crews were called out to rescue the remaining residents.

Many of the 2,200 static caravans had been washed off their standings has huge waves battered the coast in this weeks storms.  Thankfully nobody was injured and all residents were evacuated to safety.

The Caravan Club has announced plans to further expand its Wi-Fi service at its parks.  This further increase will be some 37 parks before the start of season in March.  The head of Sites marketing said that they were delighted to be able to offer this service to their members as they know it will be very popular.   The technology is provided by KeConnect and brings the current  number of sites with this service to 42.

Just come across an old article from the BBC that has amused us here in the Intacaravans office.  This shadow has been cast at night onto a caravan park fence in Australia and has attracted hundreds of tourists from across the country.  However we’re not totally convinced on the resemblance, we’ve had a few other suggestions including the dementors from Harry Potter and the mask from Scary Movie, what do you think?

Read more at http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/asia-pacific/967421.stm

The question on covering caravans has been a hot topic for years.  The damage caused to both caravans and the reputations of the companies that manufacture the new generation covers stems from the old-style tarpaulin covers.

A common conception of a caravan cover is a bulky, plastic affair.  The reputation of such covers is rightly bad.  Plastic covers don’t allow moisture to escape from underneath the material and cause a great deal damage.  Moreover the material is extremely tough and often scratches windows and bodywork. (more…)